


#TroubleWrap

by SharksWrites



Category: Sam & Cat (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2014-09-14
Packaged: 2018-02-17 07:28:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2301455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharksWrites/pseuds/SharksWrites





	#TroubleWrap

As usual, Sam stayed up until two in the morning playing video games. But when she crawled into bed and sprawled out like every other night, she couldn’t fall asleep. At some point she got up and tried to sleep on the couch. It didn’t help. Cat woke up when Sam stormed back into the room. She checked her phone.

 

"Sam?" Cat asked.

 

"Yeah?" Sam said.

 

"It's five am. Is something wrong?”

 

"Can't sleep." Sam grumbled.

 

Cat couldn't even keep her eyes open. When she heard that Sam was okay, she immediately fell back asleep. Sam continued to toss and turn for the rest of the night.

* * *

 

Sam paced behind the couch as Cat watched TV. The front door swung open and Dice strode in carrying a stack of tiny cowboy hats.

 

"Coming in, ready to sell some tiny hats." He said as he pushed the door closed.

 

Sam walked up to him and smacked the stack out of his hand. The hats tumbled to the floor with a thud.

 

"Hey!" Dice complained.

 

"I didn't sleep." Sam said loudly.

 

There was a knock on the door.

 

"Knock knock." Cat said.

 

Sam gripped Dice's shoulders to move him out of the way. When she opened the door there was a large box sitting just outside. She dragged it in.

 

"What is it?" Cat asked as Sam pulled the heavy packing tape off the box.

 

"I figured if I expressed some rage, I could finally sleep." Sam said. "Dice volunteered to help."  Dice suddenly looked less on-board with whatever was in the box.

 

"You said we were gonna play with giant hammers."

 

"We are. I even had them sent already inflated.” Sam said.

 She pulled one of the bats from the box and turned to Dice. They both froze, but only for a second. Sam raised the weapon. The hammer end was bigger than either of their heads. Dice had just enough time to turn slightly away and cover his head in defense before Sam started beating him with the toy.

"Hey!" He said loudly. "Let me get one! Let me get one!"

He dove for the box and pulled the other hammer out, then rolled away to avoid getting hit again. When he stood they were on even ground. They stared each other down, both hammers at the ready.

"Are you guys gonna be violent?" Cat asked.

"Of course not." Sam said.

But the moment of calm didn't last long. Sam and Dice circled each other as they headed for the back door. Sam didn't take her eyes off Dice as she stepped outside, and the second he was out there too they started swinging at each other. Cat could hear their yells as she walked over to pick up the box they left behind.

A few strips of bubble wrap had fallen out. Cat gathered it up, and added the strips still in the box to the bundle in her arms. She looked down at them and popped one of the bubbles. She walked towards the trashcan, but stopped before she got there. It was perfectly good bubble wrap. She popped two more of the bubbles. She giggled as she carried the plastic to the couch instead.

* * *

 

Sam climbed into bed and pulled her un-tucked blankets tightly around herself. She hoped the warmth would pull her into slumber, but after an hour she was still just as awake. She tried lying on her back, then her stomach. She tried turning so her head was at the foot of the bed. Still nothing. And she was getting hungry.

 

Cat was still in the kitchen. She was watching videos on her pear phone, a strip of bubble wrap in her hands. She casually popped a bubble at a time.

 

When Sam shuffled out into the light, she saw the pile of popped sheets on the floor by Cat's feet. There was no way that much bubble wrap was in the hammer box.

 

"Did you get more of that?" Sam asked.

 

"I stopped at Nona's and the other elderlies had a bunch left over from stuff their grandchildren sent." Cat said.

 

Sam pulled a bag of chips from the cupboard and sat next to Cat. She crunched away on chips while Cat made her way through the bubble wrap. Cat was the first one to run out. She gathered the strips and threw them away.

 

As Cat walked to the bedroom she wondered if she would have time to buy more bubble wrap the next day. After she climbed into bed she could hear Sam crumple up the empty chip bag and open the fridge. Her mind wandered through ways to help Sam, but she quickly drifted to sleep.

* * *

 

Sam spent the next day in almost complete silence. She didn’t have the energy to do much more than grunt. She didn’t even have the energy to eat. The huge bowl of popcorn she made just sat in front of her while she flipped through channels. At some point she heard Cat leave and wondered if going outside might help. The thought of having to see or even talk to other people kept her on the couch. Eventually she went back to playing video games.

 

She flopped onto her bed earlier than normal that night. Maybe a change of routine was the key. She let herself relax, settling into the pile of blankets. Cat walked in not long after and climbed into her own bed. Sam heard the rustle of plastic then the increasingly familiar pop of bubble wrap. The popping stopped after a few seconds but then started up again.

 

"Cat." Sam grumbled. No answer. "Cat." Sam tried saying it louder.

 

"Yeah?" Cat asked. She didn't stop popping.

 

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

 

"Popping bubble wrap." Cat said.

 

"In the middle of the night?" Sam asked.

 

"It's so much fun!" Cat said. "Did you know they sell whole rolls of this stuff?"

 

"No. And I don't care." Sam said. She lifted her pillow onto her head and scrunched it down to cover her ears. She could still hear it.

 

"Can you do that somewhere else?" Sam complained. She heard Cat climb out of bed. A few seconds later she heard the duck slippers quack out to the living room.

 

The silence helped. Sam felt herself sinking into drowsiness. She was so thrilled she almost shook herself back out of it. She tried to clear her mind, but it just made her think of Cat. She pictured her sitting alone in the next room, popping yet another fresh batch of the packing wrap. She wondered if it was a problem. She wondered if it was her fault. But days of being more active had finally caught up to her. She fell asleep, still thinking about Cat.

 

Cat didn't mind moving. She wasn't tired. She kept the TV volume low, unbothered by the consistent pop of plastic that sounded over the program.

 

She wondered if she'd been more annoying lately. Sam hadn't really been around, and she hadn't invited Cat to hang out with her and Dice. Maybe she'd done something to piss Sam off and didn't even realize it.

 

She was more than halfway through the bubble wrap roll now.

She paused the popping, but after just a minute of focusing on the TV, she started popping again.

 

Cat was pacing through the room when Sam woke up.

 

"Did you sleep out here?" Sam asked.

 

"I didn't sleep." Cat said.

 

When Sam walked further into the room she saw a pile of old bubble wrap on the kitchen counter.

 

"Didn't you pop all those?" She asked. Cat stopped pacing and stared at Sam like it was the strangest question she'd ever heard.

 

"And what if I missed one?" Cat asked as she walked forward. "Huh, Sam? What if I missed one?"

 

Sam held up her hands in defense and Cat returned to her pacing. She crossed her arms tightly to hold in the rest of her anxious energy.

 

There was a knock at the door and Cat bee-lined for it. The delivery guy was still there when Cat opened it. She ripped the package from his hands and let the door slam in his face.

 

Cat ripped the box open and pulled out the bubble wrap. She shook it out, letting the light up ball she ordered fall to the floor.

 

"Hey, these are cool." Sam said as she picked up the toy. It blinked through its series of colors as Sam watched Cat walk away.

 

"You can have it." Cat said. She was focused on the bubble wrap. She carried it to the couch where another pile of it sat. She started popping the tiny bubbles without even turning on the TV.

 

Sam pulled out her phone and called Dice.

 

"I think I need your help." She told him.

* * *

They found Cat in her room, surrounded by bubble wrap. It looked like she'd saved every piece she'd touched in the last few days. Every so often her eyes threatened to close, but she shook off the feeling to pop a few bubbles.

 

"You look tired." Sam said.

 

"I'm not tired." Cat yawned. Sam sat on the bed next to her, and Dice leaned against the doorway.

 

"Kid, we think ya got a problem." Sam said gently. She put a hand on Cat's knee.

 

Cat couldn't look at her. Bubble wrap was all she could think about. She didn't want them to make her stop. Though, as she surveyed the pile of plastic surrounding them, she could see that it might have gone too far.

 

"Maybe I can pop _less_ bubble wrap." Cat said.

 

"Or," Dice said slowly. He lifted his shoulders as if it would make his suggestion sound better. "You could stop?"

 

"Maybe." Cat said.

 

"Look, I've been really, _really_ annoyed." Sam said. She had to pause before added softly, "But I've also been kinda worried."

 

Cat looked up at Sam. She could see that worry. Sam knew it. Now she was the one to look away.

 

"Is it even fun anymore?" Dice asked.

 

As Cat opened her mouth to answer _of course_ , it occurred to her that she wasn't actually sure. She closed her mouth and let her eyes wander over the bubble wrap she'd popped. She thought of trying to stay awake and ordering packages in the middle of the night. She knew there was a reason she went through it all, but at the moment she couldn't remember what that reason was.

 

She realized that sitting with her friends, the need to reach for the pile was gone. She wasn't thinking about how many un-popped bubbles were hidden before her. She wasn't thinking about how many fresh bubble wrap strips she still had. She took a deep breath and felt a weight lift from her shoulders.

 

"Oh my gosh." She said. "It's not fun." She felt defeat wash over her. She did have a problem. How did she miss it?

 

The look on Cat's face tugged at Sam's heart. She didn't like the feeling. Like she couldn't feel better until Cat did.

 

"You know what _is_ fun." Sam said.

 

"Roller coasters?” Cat asked.

 

"Um, yeah.” Sam said. She was going to suggest something simpler, but whatever brightened Cat’s eyes like that was fine with her.

 

“Are we gonna ride roller coasters?!” Cat asked excitedly.

 

“Are we?” Dice asked. He’d stopped leaning, also getting excited about the idea.

 

"Sure.” Sam said. “And If I don't have to help you clean this up, we can go tomorrow."

 

Cat jumped off the bed and started shoving the bubble wrap into the trashcan.

 

"Cat?" Sam said over the crinkle of plastic. Cat kept working. Sam got up and grabbed Cat by the shoulders.

 

"You can do that later." She said. She rubbed her stomach. "Talking about going out made me hungry. And since you spent all your money on bubble wrap, Dice is buying."

 

"Hey!" Dice protested. But Sam was already steering Cat out of the room. All he could do was follow them.


End file.
